Unchained
by raynedrops08
Summary: Starts after second part of the Chuunin Exams. Naruto has one month to prepare for the finals. With Kakashi off to train Sasuke, what'll Naruto do? Rated M for language and future content. Naru/Anko
1. Prologue

After many years of leeching off this site for my own amusement, I've decided to try my hand at writing my own fanfiction. I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that it's going to be pretty bad, but you guys be the judge of that :3. It's going to be a NaruXAnko fic. Starts out the morning after the second round in the Chunin exams.

Narration

"Speech"

"_Thoughts"_

"**Biju/Summon talking"**

"_**Biju/Summon Thoughts"**_

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY WORK OR WORKS RELATED TO MASASHI KISHIMOTO. THIS IS PURELY A FAN-MADE STORY.

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The blue sky...that's all that was around him. Naruto Uzumaki was floating. No, floating wouldn't be able to describe this feeling that he was experiencing at the moment. He was swimming. Swimming, in the sky. The vast, endless sky. Now, whether he was falling to the earth, or rising into the unknown couldn't be determined. All that he knew, was to the left, the right, above and beneath him, there was nothing but the clear blue sky.

"...ruto." A voice called out to him from above him. He followed the voice, only to be blinded by an insanely bright light.

"..aruto." A black spec was now headed to him from the light.

Closer.

"Naruto." A female figure was now distinguishable from the light. Wings...one dark, and one light. He noticed black and white feathers started to fall all around him, headed towards the bleak blue planet that looked so tiny below him. Purple hair, tied into a pineapple shape behind her head. Deep, brown, empty eyes that described a long life, regardless of age. Her eyes looked almost lifeless. To Naruto, the angel or devil, whatever she was, would have looked dead. Aside from falling, she was unmoving, aside from her eyes that were focused so intently on him. She stopped in front of him and encircled the young blonde-haired boy, intent on reading the young blonde from head to toe. She started to talk, but words wouldn't come out. All that came out was the sound of an alarm clock blaring…

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"Fuck me." He said groggily as he woke up, shielding his eyes from the blinding light penetrating through the window. A loud, ringing noise could be heard from Naruto's bedroom, quickly followed by the death of a certain alarm clock. This was the fifth time he's had that dream. Not exactly the same dream, per say. At first, it started out with the clear sky. After that, he heard his name being called, then started to notice the black spec that seemed to be coming closer and closer towards him. After that, he was able to distinguish the form of Anko falling towards him, and finally, he noticed her analyzing him.

He started to go through his daily morning routine, getting out of his bed and heading to the kitchen. His place wasn't too fancy. In fact, it was pretty run down, but it was still enough to live comfortably. From the entrance, there was a couch and a television, even though he received no broadcasts. A bed, with some sheets on it. One could tell upon inspection that these sheets had gone through multiple washings. This room was connected to the kitchen, and there was a door leading to the bathroom. All in all, not that bad.

He grabbed a bowl of instant ramen and poured some boiling water into it. Letting it cook he headed to the bathroom. Turning the knob on his sink, he started to wash his face lightly. Heading out of the bathroom, he went over to the dresser and put on a dark blue t-shirt and black, loose-fitting pants. He threw his orange jacket away yesterday due to the damage it received from his spar with Kiba, and needed to get a new one. Then again, the thing was a walking hazard. Might as well just get some more blue shirts, and more functional pants.

...Maybe.

He was planning to leave for training ground seven a few hours late, anticipating the moves of his chronologically-tardy sensei. He decided to just take it easy for an hour or two, a luxury that he barely had time for lately. He climbed back into his bed after finishing off his ramen and dozed off...an hour later though, he was woken up by several knocks on the door.

"Open up, dobe." Tsk. What did Sasuke want now? He racked his mind to figure out, but decided that asking him directly would be easier. To his surprise when he opened his door, he noticed his whole team behind the Uchiha. Kakashi, his sensei, present and everything. And of course, the prick in his side, Sakura. Who, incidentally, was blushing. Wonder why?

"What's with the change of clothes?" pondered Kakashi.

"What? A guy can't get comfortable in his own home? My jacket was ripped up yesterday, anyway." He squinted his eyes, still adjusting to the light from outside the door. "Why're you guys here?"

"We were just wondering where the hell our idiot was. I got us together to tell the two of you, Sakura and Naruto, that you're on your own for training. Seeing as how I'm apparently the only one that can train Sasuke here" He pats Sasuke, much to the raven haired boy's ire. "We're leaving on a training mission that'll last a couple of weeks. Naruto, I found a replacement for you. Be by the Hokage's office by 8:00. Ja ne." Just as Naruto was about to say something, he grabbed Sasuke and shunshin'd to who knows where?

"...Fuck me."

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Well, there's the prologue. It's bad, but hey. Open to criticism/comments ^^

Edit: Thanks to Vanster X for cleaning this chappie up. More to come soon!


	2. Masks

Well, glad to see that you guys liked it so far ^^ Anyways, I need to find an editor for my stories, because whenever I do it myself it's usually half-assed. I figured that most of the introductory chapters will be fairly short, but will be updated every few days, so bear with me here xD On with the story!

Narration

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

_Kyuubi/Bijou's Thoughts_

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY WORK OR WORKS RELATED TO MASASHI KISHIMOTO. THIS IS PURELY A FAN-MADE FICTION.

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"Well that was quite frank. Didn't know you felt that strongly about me." Sakura was trying as hard as she could to keep a straight face. She knew her teammate liked her, but not to this extent. And what's with him today? He isn't acting like his usual happy, bubbly self. _'He looks pretty hot without that retarded jacket on, too.'_

" It was a figure of speech, Sakura-chan!" Naruto si ghed internally, he forgot to put up his normal facade. As he slipped into his usual character, he noticed Sakura's blush fade away slowly. _'Wow, are these clothes really that different? I guess it's the little things.'_ "I guess we should get going to the hokage tower, eh?" He grinned to his teammate, who looked insulted.

" I didn't make it to the finals, remember?" '_Oh shit. Suppose I should've paid attention to the matches yesterday. Not that I really care about her, the exam's all solo from this point on.'_ "Well, I'm going to the hokage tower. See you later Sakura-chan!"

He set off for said tower, ignoring the stares that he grew so accustomed to. His mind was filled with thoughts of the purple-haired kunoichi from yesterday. She was sitting in the stands across from where the participants were sitting. Along with her were all the Jounin sensei's of the teams that were left. Sure, they interesting to a certain degree, but Anko was the only one that managed to catch the young boy's attention. Apart from her outside appearance, he could sense that she was hiding something. He wanted to learn what was behind the obvious mask that she was wearing all the time. _'Wonder what happened to her for her to put up that mask...'_ He arrived at the tower almost immediately, obviously lost in his thoughts. He chuckled to himself. Perhaps cracking the purple-haired goddess will prove to be interesting, ne?

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"I have an appointment with the Hokage at 8:00." The receptionist checked the book, only to frown. His name was actually on the appointment list, so he couldn't tell him off today. He nodded, and sent a message to the Hokage that Naruto had arrived for the meeting.

As he walked up, he noticed a few things different in the hall leading to the main office. For one, there was a slight trace of blood. It still smelled fresh, so an attack happening last night was likely. That, or Danzo was up to something again. The old hawk never learns, does he? He knocked on the door.

" Enter." After Naruto entered the room, the third made some quick handsigns, activating a Chinmoku(silence, regarding to privacy) Jutsu.

"Ne, old man, I'm supposed to be getting a replacement sensei, aren't I?" The blonde grinned, wondering who it could be.

" Drop the mask and henge, kid, no one else is here." He sighed. Watching him keep his charade up all the time pained the old man. I mean, give the kid _some _credit. He knew Naruto wasn't as stupid as everyone thought he was. Years of being raised with hate from the ignorance of the villagers forced the boy to mature at a much younger age. After a questioning glance from the blonde, he nodded. "Finally decided to scrap the jacket, eh? Maybe you won't be the walking target you want everyone to believe now." Hiruzen chuckled.

Sighing, he nodded. With a quick mutter of 'Kai', a plume of smoke radiated off him. When the plume cleared, a slightly taller Naruto could be seen. In his henged form, he stood at 5' 6''. In his true form, he stood at 6'2''. Not much could be noticed at a glance, aside from his taller stature. His hair was still the same color, aside from a few darker orange streaks in it. Upon closer inspection, one could notice that his ears were more pointed towards the end, slightly slitted eyes. Along with that, his birthmarks were a bit more defined, giving him a more feral look. If one were to look closer, they would notice a ghost of a tail behind him. Even when he dropped the henge, he still kept the more noticable feature under henge.

" Yeah. Getting it shredded yesterday was a good excuse. So, who's the new 'sensei'? I know he won't be as good as Kakashi, but maybe I'll learn something for once." Now that he thought back, he actually learned _something _from Kakashi. Granted, he only learned one thing from the copy-nin, one could tell he was peeved whenever it came to the subject of his 'sensei'.

"Oh, you'll like this." The third chuckled. "You know I trained the sannin, right?" The boy nodded, he had a ghost of a guess on who his new teacher would be. "Well, one of them are here in Konoha, intent on doing some more thorough 'research' for his books." The boy put on a full blown grin now, having a good idea of who he was. "Well, if you can find him, I'm sure you can bug him to teach you a few things. He still owes his grandson for leaving him here, you know." The boy nodded.

"So the old perv is my new teacher, eh?"

"Not exactly..."

"Care to elaborate?"

"Ebisu." A loud smack could be heard inside the Hokage's office. Naruto could be found with a hand over his face.

"You're kidding me, right? That closet pervert's barely good for anything. Your grandson may look up to him, but he's barely worth my time."

" I'm perfectly aware of this. That's why I'm only having him teach you some chakra control exercises. You may be able to make lots of Kage Bunshin, but they have nothing to do with control." _Even more than I can...the Kyuubi's reserves are something else...regardless._ "The technique has nothing to do with control, it's all raw power. Imagine how much more clones you could make with more control." Sighing, the boy nodded. "You know the tree climbing exercise, right?" The boy nodded. "Then I'll have him teach you water walking along with balancing yourself on a kunai, using every angle of the body. I don't expect you to finish by the time the day's done, so try to finish soon so you can have more time with Jiraiya." The boy nodded once again. After that, the third was about to release the Chinmoku Jutsu, before the boy stopped him quickly.

"I've got a quick question, regarding chakra control."

"Shoot."

The boy grinned sheepishly, scratching the head before proceeding with the question. "Would it be possibly to fly using chakra? Sorry for the apparent immaturity of the question, but the question's been really bugging me." The old man eyed the young boy critically.

"Where'd you get the idea?"

Surprised at the question, the boy responded, before blushing at the recollection of the dream. "I've been having these recurring dreams...where I'm in the sky. Whether I'm falling down or going up, I can't tell. All I know is, I'm REALLY high in the sky." The old man eyed Naruto warily.

" Dreams are dreams. Leave flying to the birds. If you're really interested in it, though, take it up with the Kyuubi. I'm sure he's experimented with something like that before." Naruto nodded, before putting on his usual genjutsu. Slipping into his mask, he grinned his stupid grin. Hearing a sigh from the old man, he undid the Chinmoku Jutsu. He paged the receptionist, requesting that Ebisu be sent up. After a few minutes, knocking could be heard from the door. With a quick mutter of "Enter.", Ebisu walked into the office.

" HEY there, closet perv! What'll you be teaching me? Huh?" Naruto groaned internally. He hated this mask. Then again, he remembered what the third said about contacting the Kyuubi. _'Oi, fox.'_ He heard some shuffling going on in his head before she responded. Oh, yes. Contrary to the common thought of powerful beings being masculine, the Kyuubi was female in spirit. How he learned this fact was an interesting story in itself, but that will be left for another time.

_'I wish you'd stop calling me that.'_ She whined.

_'I need to talk to you later about something'_

_'You woke me up for just that? _ She sounded peeved.

_'Sorry, go back to sleeping.' He didn't feel like a arguing with the fox yet. Way too early in the morning._

Ebisu sighed. He wasn't having the best of days. He had to start his day with tracking down the little runt (Konohamaru), then he found out he had to teach the demon contrainer chakra control. No, he knew better than to call him the Kyuubi reincarnated. He one of the few Konoha nin that was aware of the fact that the only thing stopping the Kyuubi from destroying Konoha all over again is the kid. Not that he had anything against the blonde Jinkurichi, he was just annoying. What impressed him most of all is the fact that the blonde never let the villagers get to him. An upbringing of hate, courtesy of the ignorant villagers of this village. He wasn't quite sure if he could have done it himself. Neither was he sure if the boy was completely sane. His outer shell seemed to be alright, but he has witnessed times when he dropped his mask.

That's another thing. Almost every ninja was aware that the young blonde was wearing a mask. The only ones that actually believed the blatant lie were the majority of ignorant villagers, and most ninja his age, with the exception of Shikimaru. He was the only one sharp enough to figure it out. Why he didn't let it down around the elder shinobi was a mystery. Most of them chalked it up to; "It's easier this way."

" We're going to the hot springs. Be there by 11:00. Keep the genjutsu on if you must, but please drop the mask. It's really beginning to get on my nerves." The boy looked surprised for a moment, before nodding. A look of indifference glazed across the boy's face.

The boy nodded at the bandanna-wearing man, then questioning him. "How'd you know?"

" Give us some credit, boy. The mask you're wearing is practically oozes strained emotion. Sure, you can keep it around the younger ones, but learn to drop it around the older generation." The boy nodded, then left the office.

_'The hot springs, eh? The pervy-sage should be there. I should finish up quickly, then.'_

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Anyway, read and review! XD could use some constructive criticism as well.

Quick poll: Should Sasuke be a douche as usual, or will he be a main character? go go vote


	3. Foundations

Reviews! Could use some more, but keep em coming xD They're a great motivator. I'll keep the poll open for a few more days, considering I only started this fic a few days ago. I've got some interesting things in store, though :) Just need the story to tell itself, in due time.

Narration

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

_Kyuubi/Bijou's Thoughts_

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY WORK OR WORKS RELATED TO MASASHI KISHIMOTO. THIS IS PURELY A FAN-MADE FICTION.

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Naruto could be found heading to the hot springs. Why not get some rnr while you've got some free time, eh? He still had an hour and a half before his lesson with Ebisu would start, and that left enough time to speak with the Kyuubi. He silently wondered to himself if she had a name. Being called nine-tailed all the time could get annoying. Oh well. A discussion for another time.

He arrived at a fairly boisterous hot spring, after a few minutes of sprinting. He didn't come here that often, but this was one of the few places that refused to turn him down. Main reason being that the majority of the people that came here were shinobi. Business was booming today, the springs were packed. He noticed, however, that most of the customers (note: over 90%) were kunoichi. _Ho boy._ He could _sense _the pervert around here somewhere. He's going to be well-hidden, though. With this many kunoichi around, if you were spotted peeping, you were a dead man.

Time for some RNR, eh? He payed the entry fee and headed to the changing area designated for males. Stripped down, get a towel on, and headed straight for the springs. Thank whatever being's up there that the bathing areas were still separated. The boy didn't know if he could handle seeing all those kunoichi naked. While he has matured mentally in most areas, women were still for the most part, a mystery to him. He got into the springs, melting into the near-scalding waters.

"Ahhhhhhh." The boy relaxed, remembering that he needed to talk to the Kyuubi. With a mutter of "Kage Bunshin Justu", he created a single clone of himself, and another mutter of "Henge", the clone assumed the form of a bird. Said bird (the clone) took perch on a tree. _ 'Keep watch, do something if you for see any danger or if I'm out for too long.'_ After hearing a quick chirp from the bird, Naruto set off to meet the Kyuubi.

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Shutting everything out around him, he delved into the inner workings of his mind, towards where the seal is located. The black world suddenly flashed brightly, blinding the blond momentarily. The blonde closed his eyes to shield them from the light. He reopened them only to reveal a pair of slitted eyes. That wasn't the only thing that was different. What was once a world of darkness around him had changed into a vast, grassy plain. If you looked far enough, you could see a couple of mountains in the distance. He hadn't been in his mindscape for a few months, he was, quite naturally, surprised. Seeing as it was a sewer before, he was, quite frankly, surprised. He gave the Kyuubi control over how his mindscape would look, but he didn't think it would be this big of a change. He had also slipped out of his genjutsu, returning to his full height of 6'2''. The only difference between the outside world and within his mindscape, is that his hanyou features were fully visible in his mindscape.

"Fucking a...now I have to find her." His face scrunched up in a look of displeasure.

"I'm right here, babe." He turned around, much to his pleasure, to find the fox demoness in her human form. She stood at a comfortable 5'7". Her most noticeable feature would be her eyes. They almost glowed. The irises of her eyes were a deep scarlet red, while her pupils slitted, and a deep black. One could lose oneself just staring into those eyes all day, but Naruto knew better. Her face was free from blemishes. Her skin was a light porcelain, which was rare these days. Every kunoichi these days were sunburnt to a certain degree due to the missions they're taking outside the village. The kimono that she was wearing was very form-fitting, accentuating her every last curve. Her hair was a soft amber color, falling down to her shoulders. The next thing that popped out to you, literally, were her perky breasts. As inviting as they looked, he didn't dare to do anything to piss off the deity.

"Hey there!" He chirped out with a smile, hoping she still wasn't pissed off about waking her up.

"Hey." Judging by her tone, she obviously wasn't amused.

"Sorry about waking you up earlier, Kyuubi-sama." He forced through his teeth. The formalities were really a drag, but he felt that they were needed, speaking to a being that was almost as old as the earth that he resided on. Now, physically, one would thing that there was no way on earth to seal a being as powerful as her into a child, but the Shinigami wasn't bound to the earth. Well, at the time, the Shinigami was assigned to the earth, but regardless, he isn't bound to the earth. She sighed. She understood the thinking behind the boy's logic, but honestly... "Cut the formalities, kid. And call me Haru. That's the name I was given as a kit." The boy nodded, sighing with relief. "Now, you had a question about something, didn't you?"

Nodding, "Yeah. You've been around for a while, haven't you?" Ignoring the indirect jab, Haru nodded. "Do you know anything about flying? Not like the birds, the concept behind that is simple. I'm talking as a human being. Is there something that can be done with chakra manipulation, or something?" Haru chuckled.

"You know, even though the human race has been around for a couple millenniums, they have never thought about flight as a being. A few thousand years ago, they created devices that could carry a few people across great distances, but again, people never voiced thoughts about flying as an individual." She recalled, thinking back to the era of aerial devices. Of course, she's thought about this a couple of times before, but never gave it serious thought, berating herself for thinking such childish thoughts. "I always thought that thoughts on flight and such were trivial, thinking it was impossible. But with the knowledge of chakra becoming common knowledge two centuries ago, pretty much anything is possible. Two things that are evident from this would be the tree and water walking exercises, as you humans put it." She cupped her chin in thought. "Theoretically, it is possible." The boy perked up.

"Really? No berating me on the immaturity of the thought, no nothing?" The boy looked confused. Surely, the thought was a bit far-fetched, but he didn't expect a straight answer.

Haru chuckled again, but this time, with more mirth. "That's the kind of thinking that prevents society these days to stand still, just as they have thousands of years ago. They tend to berate those that stick out, usually out of fear of whatever consequences they create in their minds." She paused for a moment, before continuing. "You're supposed to be learning the water-walking exercise from the closet pervert today, aren't you?" She continued after receiving a nod from the boy. "You _should _be able to integrate the two chakra control exercises you've learnt with a few alterations to the tree walking exercise."

Thoroughly confused, all that the young boy could come out with an unintelligible "Huh?" Scrunched up face, and all.

Sighing, she begun to explain. "You can do the tree walking exercise, right?" She deadpanned, to which Naruto nodded. "Explain your interpretation of it."

Before taking a moment to collect his thoughts he started. "It's basically pumping chakra to your feet, then finding an equal balance between too much and not enough chakra. Too much and you get pushed off, too little and you fall off. Given, if you find a right angle to place your feet, you can probably climb up a fairly short tree without the use of chakra." Fairly satisfied with his explanation, Haru nodded.

"Correct. Part of the reason you don't understand my theory is that you don't know the basics behind water walking just yet. You should, however, know it after today. Balancing yourself on a kunai is a whole nothing thing. That exercise is mainly meant to help you with your control. Talk to me after you're done with the exercise today, then we'll talk." The boy nodded, just in time to feel his henged Kage Bunshin dispel. "That's your queue. Come back in your sleep." The boy nodded once again and left for the real world. "Let's see how quickly the boy can get a grasp at this one." She smirked, before reverting back to her fox form, then set off to hunt.

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Perverted giggling could be heard from Naruto's spot in the onsen (hot springs). Grumbling, he set off to find the source of the noise. He wasn't hoping to meet his alleged grandfather just yet, but he might as well get it over with. He found him staring into a peephole, while scribbling furiously into a notepad. He quickly hid his presence, and sneaked up to the sage, hoping to surprise him. He quickly took a mental picture of his clothing. Well, for starters, there was that unruly white hair that he had. He noticed that the very tips of his hair were really sharp. It seemed almost illogical to keep it there. It'd normally just get in the way in the middle of a fight. Naruto simply shrugged. It's his life, so whatever. A green cloth undershirt that went to his wrists, and a red cloth vest that went over the undershirt. He couldn't see it from behind, but he also had a fishnet shirt under his undershirt. Along with all that, he had a clay headband with the Kanji for 'Oil' written on it. It had two, little spikes at the side, kind of like horns. He was about to pat him on the shoulder to get his attention, but he just got a better idea.

"Oi. Ero-Jiji." The old toad Sannin had to cover his mouth to keep from letting out a surprised yelp. Obviously, he's had years of practice. He turned around, expecting a brat to be there. Low and behold, he found his grandson sitting next to him on the same rock. Nostalgia flashed over his face before he began to look annoyed.

_'There aren't that many blondes in Konoha, and he sure as hell ain't a Yamanaka.' He mused. He began to try to figure out who the kid was, before he came to realization. 'Well, shit. If it isn't Minato's boy.' "What'dya want, gaki?"_

The younger of the two sighed, then began to talk. "The old man said something about bugging you for some training. Your son's ace dumped me to go train the Uchiha, so little ol' me's stuck here with no sensei. Soooooo...seeing as how you and ba-chan left me here to rot, I'd expect something to make it up."

_'So he does know. The kid's sharp. And where the hell did he get the attitude?' _He broke out of the his mental rambling when he sensed thin wisps of chakra being emanated from the boy. He raised his eyebrows at the finding. "What's with the genjutsu? And I'm busy doing some research at the moment, so you'll have to wait. Now let's see behind what'd door number one..." He started to form the hand seal for releasing genjutsu, which was simple 'Rat' sign. As he we about to release it, the younger boy put his hands over his and surged a small portion of chakra into his hand, hitting a few major tenketsu._ 'The fuck?' _He tried to move his hands, but found his efforts useless. "The hell did you do, gaki?"

"Can't take notes if you can't write em down, can you?" The younger boy chuckled. This was short lived, however, as the older man pinned Naruto to the ground using his feet. "What the hell was that for?"

"I want my hands back."

"I don't know what you're talking about." The younger boy smirked.

"You don't, you say?"

"Nope."

"How strong are the fox's healing powers, again?"

"Uh...weak?" The boy managed to croak out. He had a bad feeling about what was going to happen next...

Crack.

The boy's screaming could be heard from other side of Konoha.

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Now, days off were rare for kunoichi. Especially when they were Jounin rank. The missions were demanding and the wages were bare minimal for th jobs that they were sent out to do. So, whenever they had days off, they took every measure to make sure that they got the most they could out of their RNR time. This was, however, hard to do when you have two people bickering on the other side of the bamboo wall separating the two sexes. Women, being the fairer of of the two, tolerated the noises. Until of course, one of the two started to scream. Pretty loudly, too.

"What'd you think that was, Kurenai?" Today was the day most jounin chose to take their days off. Among them were Kurenai, Anko and Yuugao.

"Beats me. Sounds like one of them lost a pissing contest." Answered the chocolate-haired beauty. Wearing only a towel.

Anko and Yuugao chuckled lightly, although they were cut short when they heard another ear-shattering scream come from the other side.

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Naruto could be found with two fingers that were popped out of their sockets, courtesy of the 'Great Jiraiya'.

"Yeah, sure, break my fingers, that's a fucking great way to greet your grandson." The boy popped his fingers back in, gritting his teeth at the pain of his fingers going back into their sockets.

"What can I say? I'm not really a people person." Jiraiya started to feel his hands again, slowly groping the thin air, getting the feeling back in them. "So what the hell was that? Neat trick. Scared me there for a second."

Still wincing, the younger boy answered. "Don't drop my genjutsu in public. I'll tell you why later. Anyway, what do you say to that training?"

"Like I said, I'm kind of busy right now." Earning a glare from the boy, he continued. "I think I have some free time later today, though..." The boy nodded.

" Perfect. I was supposed to learn water walking and some other chakra control bullcrap from someone in a few minutes, so that works out." The older man nodded. _'How the hell did he close his tenketsu without knowing water walking? The boy must have incredible control.' _

" Alright, then. Meet me at the springs two miles east of Konoha tomorrow at 8 in the morning. Oh, and pack a few things. The Third asked me to find someone in case something happens to him during the finals of the exam." After a questioning glance from the younger boy, the man responded. "What, you don't want to go on a short training trip? Whatever." He shrugs. "Your loss, kid."

"_No no no! I'll be there." 'Now there's some more pressure. Gotta finish whatever Ebisu's exercises quickly.' _ "Who're we going to be looking for?"

"Heh. That'll be a surprise for you, kid." _'Wonder what Tsunade will say if I told her the kid's still alive?'_

They were interrupted when Ebisu finally arrived at the onsen. Much to their relief, he was still wearing his black get-up.

"Jiraiya-sama? Pardon the rudeness, but what are you doing here?"

"I was just leaving, in fact. See you tomorrow, kid." With that, he bolted. In the wrong direction. Instead of landing outside the springs as he planned, he jumped right into the middle of the women's side of the onsen.

"I would feel sorry for him, but he really deserved that." Ebisu could only nod at the boy.

"Now, shall we begin?"

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Read and review. Tell me what you guys and gals think!


	4. Time

Sorry about the wait, I've been busy with testing for some classes .

Narration

"Speech"

Thoughts

_Kyuubi/Bijou's Thoughts_

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY WORK OR WORKS RELATED TO MASASHI KISHIMOTO. THIS IS PURELY A FAN-MADE FICTION.

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Somewhere in the village, a bored Anko could be found trying to find something to do. She didn't want to do anything _too_ exerting, but her boredom was killing her.

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"Yeah, that's it..."

"Like this?"

"Yep. Looks like you've got it, boy." Ebisu and Naruto have been practicing the exercise for a whole...

"Heh. Didn't think it'd be easy enough to get down in twelve minutes. Shall we get on with kunai balancing?" Naruto grinned. He truly didn't think it would be this easy. Granted, he had the help of a multitude of shadow clones. The exercise itself was easy to grasp in concept. Unlike tree-walking, which had a solid foundation that you could concentrate on, water was always shifting to those that inhabit it. You really had to clear your mind and focus on the movements of the water to meld with it. Once he got in sync with the water that he was in, he performed a modified version of the tree walking exercise. Instead of just enough to balance, he created a thin outline of chakra under the balance, for an extra foundation to stand on. On his first and second try, he fell back in, but after that, he summoned his own platoon of Kage Bunshin's and got to work. After three minutes of failed attempts from the clones, he started dispelling them one by one. He didn't gain any new information, but he came to realize faults in what he was doing. After some minor adjustments to what he was doing, he gave Ebisu one final grin before slowly walking onto the water.

Nodding, the older of the two answered the younger. "Yes, but here's a forethought: the kunai balancing exercise is only a reinforcement of the tree walking exercise. Only, instead of focusing chakra underneath your feet, you use a different limb. In actuality, the exercise should be practiced repeatedly, each time using a different area, but nowadays, people only consider their hands and fingers important enough to practice it on." The man paused for a second, realizing something. Before he could say anything, however, he was interrupted by the blonde.

"Couldn't I make a couple hundred Bunshins and use those, then?"

"I was just about to say that, actually. Anyway, it looks like we're going to need a bigger area for this. Let's head over to the Hokage's office, I'll ask him for clearance to use the Forest of Death."

Naruto shuddered involuntarily. That was the same place he took the second phase of the exams, and where he met Orochimaru. Now, the fight between the two was one-sided, but the blonde got a good idea of what he was going to be up against. It was a good chance to size up his future opponent. Oh, there was the meeting with the woman of his dreams, though. He mentally chuckled, remembering the show she put on, trying to scare the rookies. Subconsciously, he reached the spot that her kunai nicked. After his brief recollection, he nodded. "Let's go."

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"Anko-san, you do understand the situation we're experiencing with the exams taking place, don't you?" The Hokage sighed. She was truly too much to handle in these situations.

The woman in question nodded, but responded to the old man. "Yeah, but there's got to be _something_ to do in this shithole. We've got several squads of ANBU patrolling the city at all times anyway, so it should give us some space to do missions, shouldn't there? Assigning all these Jounin seems like a waste of manpower if you ask me."

The "old man" in question frowned at her jab at the village, but brushed it off. While he was indeed the Hokage, his opinion of the village's inhabitants were pretty ill-natured. Regardless, he didn't let his judgment affect his duty. He just hoped like hell that someone would fill his shoes soon. "You've got half a point there. While it is a waste, it's still keeping on teams from hostile villages on their toes." He was interrupted by a knocking on the door. He let out a snarl. "Who the hell is it now?"

"It's Ebisu, sir. I'm here with Naruto."

The Hokage let out a breath of relief. He had an appointment to talk to some complaining villagers soon, but he'd settle for this. "A moment, please." Grinning, he paged his receptionist, who answered. "I'm afraid I have some urgent news to attend to. Please reschedule my appointment with the villagers for a later time." Anko let out a short chuckle at this. After receiving confirmation from his receptionist, he headed towards the door and opened it, letting in Ebisu and Naruto. The first thing Naruto noticed was the presence of Anko in the room. A light pink tint appeared on his cheeks.

Now Anko was curious. He knew the young boy from somewhere, but she just didn't know where. She also noticed something off about the boy. What it was, however, she just couldn't place her finger on it. Then her mind clicked. This was the kid that almost wet his pants in the forest of death! She mentally chuckled at the memory, grinning slightly. You see, Anko wasn't as up to date as the rest of the shinobi population. Being on missions all the time and interrogating whenever you weren't would do that too one. Having barely any free time, and not as much time to communicate with colleagues, she jumped to the same conclusion that the villagers have, albeit a little less biased.

"So what brings you two here? Aren't you supposed to be teaching Naruto how to do the water walking exercise?" Now the old man was curious. It's only 11:20, so he couldn't be done yet...could he?

The taller man chuckled. "I'm afraid he's mastered that already sir. The boy's like a sponge when it comes to learning." The old man gawked at this, before regaining his composure.

"The fuck? How long did it take you to learn that, gaki?" NOW Anko was alarmed. Usually, it took people anywhere from a week to a month to learn, yet alone MASTER the exercise.

"Twelve minutes, according to my count." Now she was fuming. Apparently, what she knew about the young blonde were lies. I mean, it's got to take the "dobe of the class" at least a month to learn something like that, shouldn't it? The old man was having thoughts of his own as well. The boy really was unnaturally talented in learning new material. He pinned it on having Haru inside of him.

"So why are you here, then? Shouldn't you be getting to work on the kunai balancing exercise?"

"That's part of the reason we're here. We need a large open space to practice it, we're going to try something unconventional."

"How much area are you talking, here?" The old man was curious, but he'd find out later.

"A few acres. Or a forest would do, we could work between the trees. Really, any place that's closed off to the general public." Anko raised an eye at this, before talking.

"Why not use the forest of death? The place is closed off, and there are some open spaces you could use." Shit, she had nothing to do, might as well watch the kid bleed. Plus, she wanted to learn more about the brat.

"Sounds good. I'll sign some papers to grant access to the two of you for...how long do you think he'll need to work on it, Ebisu?"

"Just today should be enough, if his mastery of the water walking exercise has demonstrated anything."

Nodding, the Hokage dug up his pen from under the pile of paper and walked over to a gray cabinet. He fished through his robes, looking for the key that opened the damn thing. Force _could _be used here, but he needed the cabinet later.

"So, twelve minutes, huh? What, do you count as a pastime or something?" Small talk was never one of Anko's strong points.

"Nope. Haru keeps track of time for me. That way, I can focus on whatever I'm doing." The woman raised a brow at this.

"Haru?"

"The Kyuubi." The boy started to look around, and rested his eyes on the purple haired woman. The thing that caught his attention almost immediately were her eyes. They were almost exactly like he remembered from his dream. Probably because she was on guard. As it stands, the boy was still a complete stranger to here. Like hell she'd open up to someone she just recently met. Moving away from her eyes, his own rested on her hair. He had the sudden urge to run his fingers through those purple locks. His eyes glazed over for a moment, before he regained control over himself. Of course, he also noticed how Anko tensed up after his mentioning on the Kyuubi.

Now her eyes shot open, but before she did anything stupid, she realized that the blonde must have things under control if the two can communicate. She looked towards the Hokage, who merely nodded back. "You two talk?" She also became wary of the way the boy was sizing her up. Normally, she wouldn't mind, but in her eyes, he was still a minor...once again, she normally wouldn't mind, but she was in the presence of the Hokage. She straightened up and crossed her arms across her chest.

"From time to time. She's been getting bored a lot recently." He said in a nonchalant tone. He frowned mentally. The boy was enjoying the view, but he apparently caught.

"She?" _Now_ the purpled haired kunoichi was curious.

Naruto chuckled. "A common misconception. Just because "The Almighty Kyuubi" is indeed, almighty, you expected it to be a male?"

"True...when you think about it, there aren't many famous female ninja out there. The only one that comes to mind is Tsunade." She received a nod from the blonde.

"Oh well, what can you do? When you're raised to think a certain way, can't change it without giving it some time." The blonde shrugged. He smiled inwardly when she nodded as well; her lips forming a faint smile. She was positively radiant. He didn't see why everyone was so scared of her...well, alright. She might be a little on the edge, but who can blame her? She was given nearly the same treatment that he was given. Now that he thought about it, he was surprised that the woman was still as sane as she was. If one were to be exposed to hatred from the day they were born, they eventually get used to it. To be treated normally, then all the sudden hatred, though, he would imagine it to be a complete shock to the core. _'I'm personally surprised as well. We've heard the same shit, but I wouldn't imagine a woman being able to pull through. She must be a wreck on the inside.'_ The boy nodded mentally, storing Haru's comment for later reference. _'By the way, the merging's at about 7%. Should be done a week after your exams.'_ Once again, he nodded mentally, before questioning the demoness. 'Any other major changes? Tails and claws, I could have guessed, but once again, anything else?' _'Your hair should also change colors, but that won't be noticeable until later. You have to wait for it to grow out again, after all, unless you want me to do something about it.'_ 'Meh, any way of making it all come out at once?' _'I can probably do something about that.'_ "Whatever."

"Say something, kid?" Anko's attention was still on the blonde. She was now fully intent on getting to know him. He was practically a clone of her when she was first abandoned by her teacher. Minus the whole being female thing.

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking out loud." 'Guess that slipped.'

"Screw it." Ebisu, Naruto and Anko switched their attention to the third, who held a scrunched up piece of paper. "Just go, fuck this paperwork." Earning some chuckles from his three guests, Naruto and Ebisu nodded and headed towards the door. Anko watched Naruto leave.

"Heh. He catch your interest?" Earning a mild blush from the kunoichi, he smiled faintly. "You know, he's eight years your junior. If you two didn't have so much in common, I would've done something." Anko's eyes widened slightly, but she stayed quiet. "You know, that's the first time he's talked openly to someone in a long time. Who knows? You should get to know him, he's an interesting kid."

Grinning slightly, she responded. "Seems like it. So..." She started walking innocently with her hands behind her back. "Got anything to do?" She smiled a sickly sweet smile.

Sighing, the old man suddenly came up with an idea. "Why don't you tail Naruto? Point out any mistakes he'll make. The boy's damn good, but no one's perfect."

"Perrrrrfect." Grinning, she headed out, intent on finding the young blonde.

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Once again, sorry about it being so late Been busy with tests, and the like.


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